Ruengoethe

Walking Gods

“The proud and mad fought/walking gods that brought/lightning from the sky/but/even gods may die.”
-from The Champion & The Lady by Bran Skaldur

The Walking Gods were the original deities of the world, creatures that existed upon the mortal plane who had a incredibly powerful connection to the Loom. The knots of their soul were woven together with thousands of Strings, unlike the usual seven found in humans and other sentient creatures. This let them braid together with entire populations, originally of Nonmen, allowing them to draw on the combined energy of their worshipers to wield powerful magic, more powerful than anything that has been seen since the age of the Old Dominion.

The origin of the Walking Gods is unknown. They numbered in the hundreds, and their physical forms were seemingly varied. Most surviving depictions of them reflected aspects of the natural world in a vaguely humanoid form, though it is unclear whether this artistic depictions accurately portray the Walking Gods or are rather the interpretations of the worshipers.

In 1,200 BSF, human magi, part of the used the power of the Anachitis to eliminate all but the four rebel Walking Gods to end the Concordant Rebellion, and later even one of those four, the Lady of Blossoms, was slain by Saint Gaius. Some of the others remained partially in the Loom as Vestiges, though are unwhole and mad. The three remaining Walking Gods are severely weakened by the Anachitis, and need to be tended for constantly by their servants. The methods of preservation of the Lady of Wind and Rime and the Lord of Harvest are unknown. The Lord of Skies and Waters, however, is known to require daily sacrifices in order to keep his body alive.

Presently, fae (besides the Elves) are still bound to their respective Walking Gods naturally at birth, which grants them access to some magical talents. Some particularly devoted fae, as well as devotees from other races, manage to braid themselves more tightly to the soul of the god and draw upon his or her power in the same manner that a practitioner of Weft draws from the power of the Ascendants.